Large naturalistic enclosure observations

[tonyi]

I have a 18x18x24 Exo Terra tank featuring a rainforest-like environment with lots of plants and an established fauna of various invertebrates (springtails, isopods, snails, etc.). When my orchid mantis reached L4, I decided to release her into the tank to observe her behavior in a large, more natural setting. Today marks the sixth day since she was introduced into the tank and so far it's been very interesting to watch her.

The first day, she was quite passive, mostly staying in one spot. She did, however, actively hunt fruit flies. After a few days, I've seen increasing levels of activity. It seems that she likes to move a bit, then stay in one position for a few hours. When she spots reoccuring movement, she will soon move in to investigate and set up a new "ambush". She is remarkably effective at hunting in this large enclosure. I've added two grasshoppers, several wild flies (about the size of house flies) and a number of other flying insects. At first, she stalked the grasshoppers and caught one of them. After that, she moved up in the enclosure, finding new spots among the branches and leaves close to the top. In two days, all the flying insects disappeared. She is now quite fat so I will probably introduce less flying insects from now on. I did not anticipate such a high success rate.

Another observation is that when the lights go out, she will quickly move to a nearby leaf and climb it to hang upside down for the rest of the night. In the morning, she climbs down and starts moving around again. Could this be an instinct to protect her from nocturnal predators that move along the ground? When she's getting thinner and presumably more hungry, this seems to trigger more movement and more active hunting. Now that she's fat, she tends to stick to one spot for longer periods of time. I've also seen her return to the exact same spots where she's caught prey before. She'll sit there for many hours but if nothing shows up, she moves on.

The vivarium has different thermal layers, caused by the lamp. Near the top, the daytime temperature is 27-28 degrees C (80-82F), at the bottom it's 24 C (75F). Right now she's spending more time in the higher levels but that may be caused by her recent feast on flying insects. Humidity is steady at 85-99%, except for when the ventilation fan is running (4 x 15 mins per day). This causes a bit of a dry breeze which removes stagnant air.

I thought I'd share my observations with you guys in case you're interested. Personally, I'm fascinated to see the differences compared to when she was living in her small nymph enclosure. Although my vivarium is not her natural habitat, it at least mimics several aspects of it, which could trigger more of her instincts.

 

[[email protected]]

That sounds real cool do you have any pictures?

 

[tonyi]

That sounds real cool do you have any pictures?

Sure, here you go;

 

[Rick]

That is a very cool enclosure. It may be the temps that are causing her to move around so much. I don't think moving around so much would be a smart move in the wild as it just draws attention.

 

[tonyi]

That is a very cool enclosure. It may be the temps that are causing her to move around so much. I don't think moving around so much would be a smart move in the wild as it just draws attention.

She doesn't move between the temperature layers and I haven't seen any difference between the days she's spent in the lower temperature areas as opposed to the higher. But it shouldn't be interpreted as constant movement, it's more a case of shifting locations to sit still in. The movement per se doesn't take more than a few minutes but it does seem to do the trick, as indicated by her successful eradication of all the prey I've put in the vivarium. Today I saw her sit still in one place for probably 5 hours, then she moved a bit and shortly thereafter she had caught a grasshopper. My guess is that she had seen the grasshopper move around in that area and moved in to set up a new "ambush" closer.

 

[Katnapper]

That's really cool, Tony... Thanks for letting us see. Beautiful plants you have there in your vivarium... not to mention the mantis, lol! It is interesting that she's been so sucessful at finding and catching the food in such a comparitively large enclosure. It sounds like she probably is finding and eating most of the food you've put in there. One thing to consider though, is disappearence of the prey items due to other causes (natural death, etc.)... and there might be some that die and get lost in the foliage or underneath on the substrate. Just something to maybe think about and watch to make sure she's getting all the food you think she is. Beautiful set-up!

 

[tonyi]

is disappearence of the prey items due to other causes (natural death, etc.)... and there might be some that die and get lost in the foliage or underneath on the substrate. Just something to maybe think about and watch to make sure she's getting all the food you think she is.

I'm keeping an eye on her abdomen to see that she's eating. Then there's all the scattered pieces of insects I find around the places she's been sitting... :lol:

On a side note, I thought it was interesting to see that grasshoppers seem able to live in my vivarium as well. They eat the moss and some small patches of fungal growth. Not that they had much time to try the culinary delights, they quickly became dinner themselves.

 

[[email protected]]

That is a nice mantis mansion better not let mine see that or they will revolt or go on hunger strikes.........

 

[lectricblueyes]

Hey, this is a GREAT post! It's funny how protective we get of our praying mantis's. We put them in these tiny deli cups or enclosures(if you want to call them that) where we systematically put fruit flies into their plastic cups knowing that those FF's have no chance of escape, and our mantids feast like kids pulling up to McDonald's to order value meals. No hunt, no challenge.. just.. here.. there's your food you don't even need to move!

Your setup seems so much more exciting. My mantids hang upside down on lids all day and yours actually hunt in a beautiful environment.

Sure, there is more risk but let's not forget.. these creatures survive in much worse environments than your vivarium. Heck, the only "danger" is... well... uh... lol umm.. I don't know? You can tell when a mantid is starving, I've seen this after molting where their abdomen isn't "hanging down".. they look flat. So, even that's not a challenge. You also state that your mantis is successful at catching even the flying insects. I'm not shocked, these creatures can go days without catching insects in the wild and I think the number of insects we feed them typically exceeds the number of insects they are exposed to in nature.

After reading this, I am definitely moving forward on my 12x12x12 exo-terra enclosures (even smaller than yours) when my mantids start hitting adulthood.

I created a post about 3 weeks ago, talking about the smallest of the Exo-Terra line of enclosures. I had quite a bit of advice:

HERE is the post.

Here are some of the comments:

"The larger terrarium-type enclosures aren't very practical for keeping most mantids. Individuals would be better kept in smaller, more mobile containers to allow for easier access to food sources, and greater ease in working with the mantids and enclosures."

"...honestly they may be too large for small mantid nymphs. I once desired fancy cages but found they just didn't work well for mantid keeping."

"...I'm certainly not going to tell you to scrap it, but these enclosure were designed for herps and not mantids."

"Keeping the glass fronts clean will be another issue. You can't clean them in place with glass cleaner, and you will have to remove everything to clean the sides."

"...I would put the smaller adult mantids in 32 oz deli cups, the larger species in 2.5 gallon tanks."

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Any way, let me ask my two questions:

1. With the front-opening enclosures, do you have problems with escapees?

2. Cleaning, is it a major issue cleaning these out?

Overall, it seems like your experiment was a success. You said before that the vivarium is not an easy solution like the cups. I think the cups do make life easier for feeding mantids. I think I'll always be keeping nymphs in cups and only have the larger adults in my exo's. Both solutions have ups and downs. To me, what you are doing is more advanced, time consuming yet far far more rewarding. Keep us posted, I for one am VERY interested to hear more

 

[cloud jaguar]

Wow, that is an awesome setup. I too may reconsider my original plan of using an Exo Terra terrarium as a setup for Ghosts or other mantids.

I am wondering how you keep that hydrated and about the fan you mention - what types of optional stuff did you purchase and attach inside of there???

Thanks!

 

[bassist]

I'm interested in doing this some day also lol reading up on some orchid plants that can survive in those kind of conditions list that I have found that can survive 80+ temperature and high humidity are these:

Pleurothallis grobyi

Ludisia discolor

Malaxis species N. G.

Malaxis species Thailand

Masdevallia wendlandiana

Maxillaria uncata

Bulbophyllum alagense both forms

Pleurothallis tribulariodes

Haraella odorata

Vanilla planifolia

Trichoglottis triflora

Cirrhopetalum curtsii

Dendrobium abberans

Nephelaphyllum all species

Masdevallia floribunda

Dendrobium atroviolaceum "pigmy type"

Pleurothallis allanii

From Vivariumforums

 

[lectricblueyes]

Oh wow, you added more pictures. Dude, THIS should have been in the contest!! You would have won HANDS DOWN!

It's like having the "Discovery Channel: Mantids" turned on ALL the time to catch wild-life in wild environments.

 

[wuwu]

that is one spoiled mantis! :lol:

very nice looking enclosure.

 

[tonyi]

Any way, let me ask my two questions:1. With the front-opening enclosures, do you have problems with escapees?

2. Cleaning, is it a major issue cleaning these out?

Thanks for all the positive comments!

1. I don't use the front doors much, especially not when I have flying feeder insects in there. I use an opening at the top instead, check out the pictures to see how it works. It's basically a very simple DIY solution comprised of some insect net and two pieces of plastic poster frame.

2. I don't clean. It's intended to be a self-regulating system. The bacteria, springtails and isopods deal with most types of waste quite quickly. I sometimes clean the doors with a piece of tissue and some distilled water but that's it. One of the sides is covered with black film, the other is usually covered with droplets so I don't clean them.

Wow, that is an awesome setup. I too may reconsider my original plan of using an Exo Terra terrarium as a setup for Ghosts or other mantids.I am wondering how you keep that hydrated and about the fan you mention - what types of optional stuff did you purchase and attach inside of there???

Thanks!

I have a DIY rain system for that. I built it using a 12V water pump (I think it was intended for sinks on boats), some aquarium hose and Gardena nozzles for use in greenhouses. It also has a modified lid for use with 4 litre containers (sorry, I don't know the proper name for these in English) for distilled water. Finally, I spliced the cables and hooked them up to a suitable AC/DC adapter and added an on/off switch. So now I just have to use the switch mounted alongside the vivarium to make it rain. I usually do that once a day. That's enough to maintain humidity. The fan removes some air a few times a day to keep it fresh.

The hose and nozzles mounted on the cover glass, using suction cups

One of the nozzles. I used a hot nail to make holes in the hose, then just plugged them in.

The hose, pump and modified lid.

With the lid closed.

The switches. One for the lamp, one for the rain system.

This tank has DIY written all over it.... :lol:

I'm interested in doing this some day also lol reading up on some orchid plants that can survive in those kind of conditions list that I have found that can survive 80+ temperature and high humidity are these:

I don't know much about orchids myself, but I know that at least Ludisia discolor is popular in this type of vivarium. I have a small Phalaenopsis myself, mounted on a piece of cork. It seems to thrive but doesn't seem to want to give me any flowers.

 

[macro junkie]

nice enclosure.whats it feeding on in the image above?

 

[tonyi]

nice enclosure.whats it feeding on in the image above?

In both pictures, she's feeding on grasshoppers. I caught them in a nature reserve, so they should be free from pesticides. I don't feed her crickets since I can't make sure they're eaten. They could easily hide in my enclosure and then come after her when she's moulting.

 

[Rob Byatt]

Very interesting post, Tony. I would like to experiment with things like this but there is never enough time nor space. This is the curse of breeding many species :angry:

The behaviour you have witnessed is what can be expected from an ambush predator. The movement, as you quite rightly suggested, it in relation to prey availabilty. An ambush predator will stay in the same place if there is a steady supply of food to that area; it will move if the supply lessens.

 

[tonyi]

I just observed another indication of the hunting skills of my orchid mantis. Earlier today, I caught a house fly. I think I may have injured its wings along with one of its legs and stunned it while handling it, because when I put it in the vivarium, it fell onto an orchid leaf and stayed immobile for a good 20 minutes. Then it started to move in small circles, round and round, at a fairly slow pace. My orchid mantis was still sitting in the same spot she's been in for almost 24 hours. A while later, when I was checking, she seemed to be observing the fly from a distance. She kept doing this for a while. Later, the fly had moved out of sight and the mantis had moved too, although only a little bit. I couldn't see the fly but the mantis seemed to be keeping an eye out. I checked again a couple of hours later and this time my mantis had moved to a new spot farther away and was munching on the fly in question. So obviously she noticed the fly, observed it for some time and then moved in to ambush it.

 

[lectricblueyes]

The behaviour you have witnessed is what can be expected from an ambush predator. The movement, as you quite rightly suggested, it in relation to prey availabilty. An ambush predator will stay in the same place if there is a steady supply of food to that area; it will move if the supply lessens.

Agreed. Actually when I read about your praying mantis's hunting behavior it reminded me of an online video game I play. I play an "ambush" type of a sniper and I do EXACTLY what the mantis does. I go to a well hidden area where I blend in, I sit still and don't move... if other players come near this area, I kill them... and if they don't... I move, sit, and wait again. Totally makes sense.

We just don't see this because we don't give them natural environments to do this in.